THE CLONING OF AN ADULT SHEEP BY BRITISH SCIENTISTS HAS 
BEEN HAILED BY MANY AS A GENETIC BREAKTHROUGH WITH POSITIVE 
CONSEQUENCES FOR MANKIND.  BUT THE PROCEDURE HAS ALSO BROUGHT 
TO  THE FORE MANY ETHICAL QUESTIONS.

A SEVEN-MONTH-OLD EWE KNOWN AS "DOLLY" IS AT THE CENTER OF
A SCIENTIFIC AND ETHICAL STORM. "DOLLY" IS THE FIRST SHEEP TO BE 
CLONED FROM AN ADULT ANIMAL -- AN EXACT COPY OF A SHEEP OBTAINED 
IN A LABORATORY FROM A SINGLE CELL. 

THE PIONEERING WORK WAS DONE BY A GROUP OF SCIENTISTS FROM 
EDINBURGH WHO SAYS THE PROCEDURE WILL BENEFIT HUMANITY.  FOR 
EXAMPLE, THE SCIENTISTS BELIEVE CLONING CAN PROVIDE A PRACTICALLY
LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF ANIMAL ORGANS FOR TRANSPLANTING INTO HUMANS 
AND COULD PROVIDE VALUABLE INFORMATION IN THE STUDY OF AGING. 

HOWEVER THE SUCCESSFUL CLONING OF AN ADULT SHEEP HAS BROUGHT WITH
IT THE DISTINCT POSSIBILITY -- SOME SAY IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE 
-- OF MAKING CARBON COPIES OF HUMAN BEINGS.  MANY PEOPLE SEE THAT
PROSPECT AS USHERING IN A NEW ERA WHERE HUMAN BEINGS ARE  NO  
LONGER SEEN AS UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS, BUT RATHER AS PAWNS IN A 
CHILLING SCIENTIFIC GAME. 

JACK SCARISBRICK -- CHAIRMAN OF BRITAIN'S ANTI-ABORTION CHARITY 
CALLED "LIFE" -- SEES THE POTENTIAL FOR A NIGHTMARISH WORLD. 

         CLONING OF INDIVIDUALS FOR THEIR OWN PURPOSES TO 
         PROVIDE, FOR EXAMPLE, A SPARE SET OF ORGANS OR TO DO THE
         DONKEY WORK FOR YOU.  CLONING OF CERTAIN TYPES BY 
         GOVERNMENTS WHO WILL PERFORM CERTAIN DUTIES, WHETHER 
         THEY BE KAMIKAZE PILOTS OR DRONES OF SOCIETY. CLONING BY
         DICTATORS OF REPLICAS OF THEMSELVES TO MAINTAIN THEIR 
         REGIMES.  AND THEN THERE IS THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF 
         HUMAN LIFE, SO THAT YOU CAN GET OFF-THE-SHELF TYPES TO 
         SUIT YOU -- THIS TIME A SIX-FOOT BLONDE, NEXT TIME A 
         PIANIST, OR WHATEVER.

MR. SCARISBRICK SAYS THE SUCCESSFUL CLONING OF AN ADULT SHEEP 
OPENS -- IN HIS WORDS -- A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF WRONGDOING, WHERE 
HUMAN LIFE CAN BE MANIPULATED AND EXPLOITED IN A WAY, UP TO NOW,
REGARDED AS IMPOSSIBLE.

DR. RICHARD NICHOLSON -- EDITOR OF BRITAIN'S "BULLETIN OF MEDICAL
ETHICS" -- BELIEVES THE CLONING OF HUMAN BEINGS CAN HAPPEN WITHIN
THE NEXT FEW YEARS. BUT HE SAYS IT MAY  NOT  BE AS DRAMATIC AS 
ENVISAGED BY SOME.

         IT IS MUCH MORE LIKELY TO HAPPEN IN SOME SORT OF 
         RELATIVELY INNOCUOUS WAY THAT MAYBE, SOMEBODY HAS FAILED
         TO GRIEVE FOR THE LOSS OF A LOVED ONE, FOR A CHILD MAYBE
         AND SAYS : "WELL, CAN WE NOT GET THIS CHILD BACK AGAIN?"
         MAYBE A SIX OR SEVEN-YEAR-OLD CHILD DIES OF MENINGITIS 
         AND THEY TAKE SOME CELLS QUICKLY BEFORE HE DIES AND THEN
         CLONE THOSE SO THAT THEY CAN REPLACE THE LOST CHILD WITH
         EXACTLY IDENTICAL A CHILD.

DR. NICHOLSON SEES AN OVERRIDING PROBLEM WITH ALL SCIENTIFIC 
RESEARCH NOWADAYS.  HE SAYS THE BENEFITS OF RESEARCH ARE ALWAYS 
OVERESTIMATED AND THE RISKS ARE ALWAYS UNDERESTIMATED.

         WE HAVE GOT TO START GETTING AWAY FROM THIS IDEA THAT 
         ALL SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE IS MORALLY NEUTRAL AND THAT WE 
         SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY LIMITS ON THE SORTS OF SCIENTIFIC 
         EXPERIMENTS OR THE SORTS OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE THAT 
         SCIENTISTS TRY TO OBTAIN.  I THINK WE HAVE TO SAY, WELL 
         THERE ARE SOME SORTS OF KNOWLEDGE WHICH ONE CAN PREDICT 
         WELL BEFORE THEY ARE ACTUALLY OBTAINED ARE GOING TO BE 
         DANGEROUS TO THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY.

THE EDITOR OF "THE BULLETIN OF MEDICAL ETHICS" SAYS THERE MUST BE
MUCH MORE PUBLIC DEBATE AND MORE INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ACTION 
REGARDING RESEARCH WHICH IS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS NOT ONLY TO 
INDIVIDUALS, BUT TO THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE.  

25-Feb-97
Source: Voice of America